Un-Holiness (in Mind) and How to Avoid It.

Recently I have written out a few posts on how we as Christians should be holy in our speech and holy in our mind. Today I’m going to write out a sister post to my Holiness in Mind post only we will be looking at the opposite side. That is to say we will be looking at what is means to have un-holy thoughts and words and how we as Christians should avoid them.
I will again be looking at Philippians 4:8, only this time I will be switching out the words to get my point across. When we read this verse, we see what it tells us to think about. For today’s post I’m going to use different words so as to see the things we should not think about.

 Finally brethren, whatever is false, whatever is profane, whatever is wrong, whatever

is base, whatever is defiled, whatever is of deceptive character, if there is anything

terrible, and if anything worthy to be shunned, do not dwell On these things.

 As we see here these are things that Christians should not be thinking about or dwelling on. Just like in my other post, I will unpack each word at a time and explain how we can avoid thinking about the things named above.

False:

Things that are false are a disgrace to God. Proverbs 12:22 says, “Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord…” God is a perfect God and His every word is tested and proven to be true (2 Samuel 22:31). As Christians our speech must reflect the character of our God. One way to make sure our speech is true and not false is to memorize the word of God. Verses such as, Zechariah 8:16, Ephesians 4:15, and Proverbs 21:28, all talk of speaking truth.

Profane:

The dictionary definition for profane is, ‘characterized as irreverence or contempt of God; irreligious” That which is profane dishonours God and his Word. As a Christian, I need to show respect and reverence for God especially since He sent his Son to die for me! David writes in Psalm 5:7, “But as for me, by your abundant loving-kindness I will enter Your house, At your holy temple I will bow in reverence for you.” One of the greatest ways we can show God reverence is to bow down and worship him with our lips and our lives.

Wrong:
To do something wrong is to do anything that God commands us not to do. It is wrong for us to steal, lie, lust, murder, hate, or anything like these. Not only are we not supposed to practice these things, as Christians we are not to associate or listen to people who practice these things as well (Galatians 5:19-21, Deuteronomy18:14).

Base:
Something that is base is completely immoral or wicked. As Christians we should not even talk about sinful things such as these unless we are exposing them as what they truly are and that is evil and corrupt. Ephesians 5:3-5 explains how we as Christians are to react to this kind of sinfulness in our world it says, "But immorality or any impurity or greed must not even be named among you, as is proper among saints; and there must be no filthiness and silly talk, or coarse jesting, which are not fitting, but rather giving of thanks. For this you know with certainty, that no immoral or impure person or covetous man, who is an idolater, has an inheritance in the kingdom of Christ and God."

Defiled:
To be defiled means something is unholy. This is directly opposite to God who is perfectly and absolutely holy and who calls us as Christians to live perfect and holy lives (1 Peter 1:16). God speaks very strongly about those whose minds are defiled, (Titus 1:10-16). We need to be serious in our Christian walk to keep our mind pure. Memorization of God's Word and diligent prayer for His strength will cause us to keep a clean mind in this evil age.

Deceptive Character:
Unlike being of good repute; deceptive character needs to be avoided by Christians. It is, in fact the character of the devil himself (John 8:44). God wishes for his people to speak kindly and truthfully to one another. We must not look like or act like the world or satan, so that our testimony for Christ will not be ruined (2 Peter 3:11).

Worthy to be Shunned:
Sin; that is what must be shunned in the Christian life. It cast satan from Heaven, cast Adam and Eve from the Garden of Eden, destroyed this entire world, and caused the very Son of God to take on human flesh and come to this earth to die a cruel death on a cross. Sin racks our bodies with disease and illness and eventually like all men before us, we die. If Jesus Christ did not rise from the grave sin would still have control, but thank God for his endless mercy! For, "God, being rich in mercy, because of His great love with which He loved us, even when we were dead in our transgressions, made us alive together with Christ, by grace you have been saved." -Ephesians 2:4-5.

Blessings,
       Lucas C.